- The FedEx St. Jude Championship is Aug. 15-18.
- Only the top 50 players after this week in the standings will advance.
Fifteen years ago, on Labor Day of 2009, Jason Dufner posted a final-round 65 at the Deutsche Bank Championship to finish in a two-way share of second place.
At 32 and still trying find his footing amongst professional golf’s most elite level, this result in the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs had massive implications. It qualified him for the season-ending Tour Championship, which in turn qualified him for the following year’s majors.
He would finish T-5 at the subsequent PGA Championship, then runner-up the following year. The domino effect allowed him — as it would for any player — to set a schedule without restrictions and gain relevant experience at the most important tournaments.
Within two years, he was a major champion, winning the PGA Championship in 2013. Sure, it all might’ve happened anyway; he might’ve been on the right path and talented enough that it was always going to work out. What we know, though, is that much of this success can be traced to that initial result which opened so many doors moving forward.
This tale — and there are plenty of others like it — is especially pertinent on the eve of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, which now serves as the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events.
For years, the most significant points cutoff on the PGA Tour happened at the Wyndham Championship. Finish inside the top-125 and you’ve not only got a chip and a chair in the postseason, but secure employment for the next year. Finish outside that checkpoint and you’d be scurrying around in attempt to save that status.
This changed last year, when the powers-that-be elected to send only 70 players to the playoffs instead of 125. There’s now even more difference, with the fall portion of the schedule serving not as the beginning of the next campaign, but a race for those PGA Tour playing privileges.
All of which meant that the greatest points-race drama this past weekend in Greensboro centered around Victor Perez finishing in a share of 33rd place to retain the 70th position and qualify for Memphis. Or more to the point, not very much drama at all.
That won’t be the case this week, with players vying to earn top-50 status, which reaps a list-full of benefits for next year.
In today’s rich-get-richer schematics of the PGA Tour, qualifying for the BMW Championship as one of the top-50 on this list also ensures a player will gain entry into all of the next year’s signature events — most of which are no-cut, free-money, full-points endeavors.
That could mean a career spike for an up-and-comer like Max Greyserman (47th in the standings), who woulda, coulda and certainly shoulda won the Wyndham, or Eric Cole (54) or Ben Griffin (56). Or more shots at greatness for veterans such as Adam Scott (46) and Harris English (51). Or simply an opportunity to remain amongst the elite for guys like Will Zalatoris (49) and Viktor Hovland (57).
There will be other opportunities, of course, for players to climb into those tournaments, playing all of the haves on the PGA Tour schedule and as few of the have-nots as they’d like.
We’ve seen, though, a direct correlation from qualification to success, this domino effect having an impactful consequence on someone’s long-term journey.
No longer do the negative repercussions of a player trying to keep his head above water and retain playing privileges play out in front of us as they did for years. It’s now the positive impact of qualification which is the most dramatic points-based subplot in the uppermost level of professional golf.
Once again, we’ll see that unfold in Memphis this week.
